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LIFE AND ITS 
FORCES 



BY 



Evelyn Lowes Wicker 








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Life and Its Forces 



By 



EVELYN LOWES WICKER 



A. D. KLUMP PUBLISHING CO. 
Stockton, California . 






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Copyrighted 1922 
By EVELYN LOWES WICKER 



All Rights Reserved 



PRESS OF 

ASSOCIATED PRINTING COMPANY 

BIOB12 E. CHANNEL ST. 

STOCKTON. CAL. 



©C1A692600 

DEC 28 72 



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DEDICATED 
TO MY BELOVED PUPILS 



CONTENTS. 



Poem— The Man Who Wins 10 

Breath 11 

Poem— Five Points of Health 20 

The Building Material of the Human Body . . 21 

Poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox 36 

Nerve Energy — Life Force 37 

Poem — Noblesse Obligo 53 

The Psychology of the Emotions .... 55 

Poem — Theory and Practice 75 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES. 

Is one of a series of lectures on Practical Psychology, 
given by Evelyn Lowes Wicker, which has created a per- 
sistent demand by the thinking public for this knowledge 
in book form. 

Among the many books published upon this subject, 
none excel the efforts of this author in propounding the 
Laws of Life. She does so in that clear, simple, and con- 
cise manner, which, now, happily meets the needs of an 
increasing number of people giving thought to this vital 
subject. 

PUBLISHERS. 



THE FIRST CAUSE— GOD. 



All life is God and God is all life. Life fills 
all space; permeates and encompasses all mat- 
ter. Life contains a Law of Attraction — a 
creative positive and negative force, which is 
Love. God is Love. God is Intelligence. All 
the intelligence of the universe is Divine Mind 
or God. Divine mind or Intelligence plans and 
directs the universe and all therein. Divine 
Love holds the universe in form and all therein. 
Divine Life is the substance out of which all 
forms were made. 

God is Life ; God is Love ; God is Intelligence : 
Three in One, and all three One inseperable 
Whole. 



THE MAN WHO WINS. 



The man who wins is an average man, 

Not built on any peculiar plan, 
Not blest with any peculiar luck; 

Just steady and earnest and full of pluck. 

When asked a question he does not "guess" — 
He knows and answers "No" or "Yes"; 

When set a task that the rest can't do, 

He buckles down till he's put it through. 

Three things he's learned: that the man who tries 
Finds favor in his employer's eyes; 

That it pays to know more than one thing well, 
That it doesn't pay all you know to tell. 

So he works and waits, till one fine day 
There's a better job with bigger pay, 

And the men who shirked whenever they could 

Are bossed by the man whose work made good. 

For the man who wins is the man who works, 
Who neither labor or trouble shirks; 

Who uses his hands, his head, his eyes; 

The man who wins is the man who tries. 

— Charles R. Barrett. 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 



11 



BREATH 



"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the 
ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of Life, 
and man became a living soul.' 

HEN the Great Infinite Spirit created 
man His work was not complete until 
He breathed the breath of Life into 
man and man became a living Soul. 
Breath and man are inseparable. 




Man can do without food for many days; he 
can do without water for three or four days; 
but he cannot do without breath for more than 
three minutes. Breath is the connecting link 
between man and his Maker and is the source 
of his life. 

Man functions on three planes — the physical, 
mental, and the spiritual. But the latter is the 
plane of which we are most conscious. The 
first thing that we are conscious of is the fact 
that we have a physical body. We do not know 
anything about soul; we do not know anything 
about mind; but we do know that we have a 
body. As man evolves he becomes more and 



12 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

more conscious of the fact that he has a mind 
and a psychic body. 

It is interesting to know that 63 1-3 per cent 
of our food comes from the air we breathe ; and 
it is out of the air we get all energy that makes 
it possible for us to function mentally and phy- 
sically. Statistics prove that in the past man 
has used only 50 per cent and woman 33 1-3 per 
cent of their lung capacity. 

Source of Energy. 

Out of the air we extract two very import- 
ant elements for the sustaining of life. The 
first is energy. The medical profession has 
not in the past recognized this fact. This 
knowledge has come to us from the Far East. 
It was a secret, and only given to those people 
who were privileged to study in the temples of 
the East. It was kept a secret because of 
the laws of caste as practiced by the Hindu. 
Little by little these secrets have seeped into 
the Western World. We have scientifically 
proven the truth of the Eastern philosophy of 
breath. It has become a part of the teaching 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 13 

of psychology. In the past we have been taught 
that our energy came from food. The result 
has been that whenever we feel worn out and 
innervated, we have been in the habit of try- 
ing to eat our way back to health. Through 
this ignorance we have shortened our life, in- 
stead of lengthening it. Man has eaten, and is 
today in the habit of eating, twice the amount 
of food necessary to sustain life. This fact is 
demonstrated and proven by psychologists and 
physiologists alike. Those who are practicing 
the principles as taught in psychology are liv- 
ing on a half or a third of the food that they ate 
when in the old thought. There is a law that 
the deeper you breathe the less you eat. Man 
is a fresh air animal. 

Oxygen. 

The other element is oxygen. The average 
person believes that oxygen energizes. Oxy- 
gen does not energize. Oxygen is Nature's 
scavenger. The energies of the body are ap- 
propriated from the air according to the 
amount of oxygen absorbed from the air we 



14 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

breathe. We inhale the two in correct propor- 
tions to the needs of the body. 

During the renewal of the cells of the body 
the old cells are destroyed and new cells are 
born. When a cell bnrsts open and new cells 
come into life, there is a rank poison thrown 
out into the blood. It is the business of oxygen 
to destroy this poison. Oxygen contacting car- 
bon causes combustion and throws off carbon- 
dioxide gas, which is a deadly poison. This is 
the process that keeps the internal fires going 
within man. In order to be well and active we 
must eat just enough food to give us the proper 
balance of carbon and oxygen. If we eat too 
much food and breathe too little we become 
unbalanced or carbonated. We have not pro- 
vided enough oxygen to destroy the carbon, and 
the result is carbonization of the body, which 
always means disease, and premature old age. 
JIY eat too much and breathe too little. 

Almost all of the pupils who have come un- 
der my supervision have been only partial 
breathers. Not one in a thousand is a hundred- 
per cent breather. The blood, in order to have 






LIFE AND ITS FORCES 15 

a balanced, healthy system, must contain 25 
per cent oxygen when it leaves the lungs. As a 
rule we have a dirty blood stream. A pure 
blood stream means a healthy body, everything 
else being equal. 

It has been said by noted scientists that our 
cells are so built that we may live a hundred 
and fifty years. This is not a new idea. The 
Yogi priests of the Far East temples have been 
known to live as long as eight or nine hundred 
years. In other words, they passed out when 
they pleased. They did this wonderful thing 
principally through the power of the knowledge 
of breath. 

Eight thinking is very important in the build- 
ing of a healthy body. But of the two, breath 
is the more important. It has been said by ex- 
perts that ' ' one generation of perfect breathers 
would make disease a curiosity." With a 
poisoned blood stream flowing year after year 
through the system — the arteries and veins not 
properly ridding theirselves of the poisons of 
the body — the moral nature of man is more or 
less impaired and corrupted. 



16 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

A doctor said to me at one time, "When peo- 
ple tell me that they are sick of life and want 
to die, I usually say, "Yon had better go 
and take a Carter's liver pill. " There is some- 
thing to that. Yon know and I know that we 
never feel onr best — that onr better thoughts 
do not come to us, when we feel logy, tired and 
fatigued. Our most inspiring thoughts come to 
us when we are feeling well and alert, mentally 
and physically. That is the time when we feel 
the germ of genius awakening within us ; or the 
urge to be a brilliant success in life. You never 
exercise this urge of the soul when the head 
aches and you go around dragging one foot af- 
ter the other with the thought that you do not 
care whether you live or die. Such a condition 
is not conducive to happiness or to success ; but 
it is conductive to a speedy passing out. 

Breath not only rejuvenates the system, it is 
the great power house of your being. It is reg- 
ular breathing that forces heart action and also 
perfect circulation. Perfect circulation always 
means perfect health. Whenever there is a 
congested condition in your body it means that 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 17 

perfect circulation does not exist in that part of 
your body. Circulation can only be attained by 
deep, regular breathing. 

Energizing the Body. 

Deep breathing also generates the energies 
to all parts of the body. We have at the waist- 
line a nerve center that is called the solar 
plexus. This center is the reservoir of energy. 
When there is a continual, deep, steady breath- 
ing the solar plexus is massaged and energized. 
It then generates through the nervous system 
the energies needed for the body. Whenever 
the energies are congested in the solar plexus 
there will often be a case of "blues' ' or bad 
feeling. When we continually breath deeply 
we are generating our energies, as well as forc- 
ing the blood to circulate. 

From the above stated facts you will see the 
necessity of lung exercise. Without right 
breathing your development, physiologically 
and spiritually, is going to be greatly hindered. 
I do not at any time undervalue the power of 
right thinking. Eight thinking is essential to 



18 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

our spiritual developmeut. Just as right think- 
ing is essential to our spiritual development, so 
is right breathing essential to our bodily de- 
velopment. You cannot be well; you cannot 
have perfect digestion ; you cannot have a clear 
mind; you cannot be one hundred per cent effi- 
cient until you become a hundred per cent 
breather. 

Breath, Digestion. 

Breath is also the force that massages the in- 
testines, the liver, the stomach and all of the 
inner organs. Without this continued massag- 
ing there is bound to be a stagnant condition 
which means poor elimination. Our health de- 
pends upon active elimination. We throw off 
through the skin and breath about two and a 
half pounds of rank poison daily. Therefore, 
it is very essential that our skin be in a normal 
condition. This is impossible unless the circu- 
lation is good. With this continual massag- 
ing by the movement of the diaphragm, which 
raises and lowers with the breath, the intes- 
tines arc forced to be active. When the intes- 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 19 

tines are active, the bowels will do their duty. 
The kidneys also will react to the action of 
breath, as also will the liver. The whole diges- 
tive and circulatory system depends upon the 
motive power of breath. When you realize the 
importance of these laws you have learned the 
secret of good health and longevity. 

Breath is the connecting link between us and 
the Great Infinite Intelligence. Shallow 
breathers do not develop their psychic powers. 
They are never able to receive deep spiritual 
revelations. It is through breath that we con- 
tact the spiritual forces of the universe. The 
deep regular breathers can become clairvoyant, 
can have that clear-sightedness of the mystic. 

4 'In the beginning the Lord made man; He 
breathed the breath of life in man, ' ' and it is up 
to man to keep breathing in order to live. 



20 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 



FIVE HEALTH POINTS. 



I would ELIMINATE and cleanse 

The poisons out; 
Till Nature all her ill amends — 

Disease rout. 
I'd FEED the famished part and give 

New life within, 
And balance keep that longer life 

For sons of men. 
For this I'd KEEP HIM PURE AND CLEAN 

In flesh and heart; 
Pollutions that have rendered mean 

I'd stir and start. 

When thoughts run pure, and BRIGHT BLOOD FILLED 

His VEINS within, 
When all life's channels gush in rills — 

I'd then begin 
To STRENGTHEN UP THE TONE full well, 

And hold up firm 
Returning strength — the awakening spell — 

Implant life's germ. 
And then I'd have a cleaned-up man, 

Renewed in youth, 
To walk and roam the earth again — 

To love forsooth. 

— De Moss in The American Journal of Clinical Medicine. 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 21 

THE BUILDING MATERIAL 

OF THE HUMAN 

BODY 

HAVE always maintained that we 
make a mistake when we give too 
much time to the study of foods. To 
be sure food is a very important fac- 
tor in the building of the body, but we 
ought to simplify the much discussed question 
to a few brief laws, which when understood and 
applied will do away with the present mental 
concern of what foods to eat. 

I believe that it is not so much what we eat as 
how we eat, that counts in the final summing 
up of the question, We can thrive well upon a 
very meager diet, providing we eat the food 
properly, but with the same diet we cannot re- 
main well unless we rightly perform the first 
process of digestion — that of mastication. 

Man has been given five senses to use re- 
spectively for certain definite purposes. All 




22 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

objective education is obtained by the use of 
the sense of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and 
taste. In the analysis of the subject "How to 
eat and what to eat," the sense of taste holds 
an important place. 

The faculty of taste has been divinely be- 
stowed upon man for a purpose. Nothing 
comes by chance. All that we possess in the 
way of organs and faculties or parts of the 
body has a reason for their existence. Nature 
does not build that which she cannot use. 
Neither does she create a faculty of sense with- 
out a practical and economical reason. 

It it through this medium that man is privil- 
eged the joy which comes from eating good food 
in the right way. If it were not for the sense of 
taste no one would care whether they ate their 
meals or not. Eating would then be tabulated 
as one of the laborous duties which man must 
perform in order to live. When the sense of 
taste is well developed, eating becomes one of 
the joys of life. It is a pleasant break in the 
daily routine of our busy lives. A time of men- 
tal rest and physical enjoyment of the gifts 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 23 

that an ALL-WISE POWEE has arranged 
with which to bless the life of man. The old 
idea of pronouncing a blessing upon the food 
before partaking of it, was psychologically a 
scientific procedure. The thought expressed 
was one of gratitude to the Divine Power for 
the gifts of food. The mental thought of grati- 
tude is one that is positively constructive and 
always harmonizes both mind and body. It is 
a recognition of the Divinity of life, therefore 
it is inducive to the development of an atmos- 
phere of joy and happiness at the dining hour. 

True doctrine is the doctrine of gladness. 
"Mirth is God's sunshine; everybody ought to 
harbor it." Shakespeare said, U A merry heart 
doeth good like a medicine." 

The sense of taste has another purpose for 
its existence besides the making a pleasure out 
of the eating of foods. The innate intelligence 
or the subconscious mind, which is the power 
that builds and rebuilds the human body, uses 
the sense of taste to guide man in his choice of 
foods. When man is in a normal condition of 



24 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

health it is safe to follow the desire expressed 
by the sense of taste for certain foods. 

The Divine Intelligence of the body has to 
have many kinds of ingredients to build and re- 
build a human body and keep it functioning 
properly. Bone, muscle, legiments, hair, teeth, 
nails, digestive juices of several kinds and lu- 
bricating oils — all must be provided for by the 
food we eat. If by wrong choice of foods we do 
not provide these elements, the subconscious 
mind is compelled to make a chemical change 
in the building of the body, oft times the adjust- 
ment is made without a serious break in the 
health of the person, but usually the health is 
affected. The subconscious mind of both man 
and animals is a habit mind. It has the power 
to readjust itself to conditions, but it always 
makes the force of its efforts to readjust itself 
felt by the individual. 

Balanced Diet. 

Man is a highly sensitized animal. The 
higher the mind is evolved the more sensitive 
the individual becomes. Because of his sensi- 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 25 

tiveness his emotions play an important part 
in his choice of foods. The reaction of emo- 
tions upon the digestive system and the blood, 
is so varied and continuous that the food which 
is the right kind to meet the needs of the body 
today, would not be the right kind tomorrow. 
Therefore man cannot be held to what is termed 
a balanced diet. 

In the animal world the balanced ration has 
been found to be successful in its result. Ani- 
mals are of a much lower type of consciousness 
than man. They do not respond emotionally 
to thought to the same degree, therefore the 
chemistry of their blood does not change as in 
man. 

No law as to a balanced diet ought ever 
be put on man. To do so would be committing 
a wrong. A balanced diet will be the right 
thing when man has evolved a balanced being 
wherein he no longer is the victim of emotion. 
As long as this is not the case we must trust 
our sense of taste in the choice of foods. In 
other words eat that which tastes good to you ; 
but be sure that you taste the food. 



26 LIFE AND ITS FOKCES 

Oft times we find people who let their sense 
of sight guide them in their choice of food. A 
food that looks good is not always the best. 

This fact is well illustrated by the common 
liking for white bread. It is the general choice 
of the American people. Every taster of foods 
or epicurean will tell yon that white bread has 
no taste as compared to whole wheat bread ; and 
yet the masses are still eating the tasteless 
stuff. If they were tasters they would not do 
so. When it comes to eating, the world is full 
of hasters instead of tasters. 

The aesthetic person argues himself into the 
belief that white bread is alright because it 
suits his love of beauty. A fresh piece of white 
bread is a delicious appearing bit of food. The 
fact that all the best and most nutritive ele- 
ments have been removed has little weight with 
him. He is hugely guided by his sense of fine- 
ness. 

In one of the laboratories a test was made of 
the three kinds of bread that is in general de- 
mand. Six puppies were put on a bread and 
water diet Tor thirty days. Two of them were 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 27 

put on white, two on rye and two on whole 
wheat. All six received the same care. At the 
end of the test the two that ate only white bread 
were dead; the two that were put on rye were 
alive but in a weakened condition ; the two that 
were fed on whole wheat only were in a perfect 
state of health. 

Constipation. 

The American race is cursed with constipa- 
tion. There are several reasons for this condi- 
tion. We are a nervous race. We move in 
high tension. For this reason we ought to be 
careful to eat wholesome food. We do not do 
so. The average menu of the American table 
contains too many condensed foods. We do 
not eat enough of the coarse foods. We could 
learn much from the animal world as to com- 
bination of foods. A good horseman knows 
better than to feed his horse oats and nothing 
more. Oats alone — with no coarse food — will 
make a horse sick. 

The same principle is involved in choosing 
the right food for man. Too much fine, con- 



28 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

densed food clogs up the system. The intes- 
tines cannot rid themselves of the excretions. 
In time this forms a feculent, turbid substance, 
which clings tenaciously to the membrane of 
intestine, causing a constant irritation to the 
tissues, and creating a putrid, poisonous condi- 
tion which provides a nesting place for the 
much-feared disease germs. 

Man as well as animals must have as a part 
of his daily diet, rough food. The best foods 
that are classed under the head of rough food 
are vegetables. A varied diet of vegetables 
provides both food and the coarser substance 
which acts as a preventative against the for- 
mation of fecal matter. 

Meat Diet. 

The much agitated question of whether it is 
wise to eat meat, is of interest to all who are 
developing the psychic man, or the greater con- 
sciousness. There is no doubt but that meat 
has had ils place in the evolution of man; at 
the same time 1 believe that man, in order to 
spiritualize himself, will of his own accord 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 29 

cease to be a meat eater. To the highly evolved 
consciousness meat is repulsive. In time it be- 
comes a poison to the body. I never ask my 
pupils to desist from eating meat. When they 
are ready for the change it will come without 
any effort of will. To those who enjoy meat, it 
will be wise to give due consideration to the 
following facts : 

All albuminous foods, if indulged in too free- 
ly, provides the blood with more muscle build- 
ing food than the subconscious mind needs to 
keep the body in repair. The blood throws off 
that which it cannot use into the various elim- 
inating glands. If the person is energized to 
that extent where this surplus supply of food is 
properly thrown off there may be no serious 
results from this lack of proper balance of food. 
If this is not the case, eventually a catarrhal 
condition will develop. 

The foods that most directly cause catarrh 
are meat and eggs. The athletic trainers will 
not allow their pupils any meat while in train- 
ing; and only three eggs a week. The athlete 
eats less than half the amount of food that is 



30 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

consumed by the rank and file. We eat too 
much and then do not provide the right kind of 
foods for our body. Milk and nuts make a de- 
licious substitute for meat, and they leave no 
detrimental results. 

Hardening of the arteries is caused by the 
meat diet. Meat leaves a deposit in the arter- 
ies, which is the direct cause of high blood 
pressure and old age expressed arterially. Old 
people ought never to eat meat as a regular 
diet. Instead of meat, they should live upon 
the sun-riped foods such as nuts, fruits and 
vegetables. Such a diet is conducive to health 
and longevity. Fruit is nature's natural assist- 
ant in the process of elimination. One should 
drink at least one-half glass of unsweetened 
fruit juice every day. Orange or grape fruit 
is excellent. 

Wateb and Its Uses. 

One of the great forces that the ALL WISE 
POWER created in His universe, for practical 
purposes, is a substance or fluid, which has 
been named water. It descends from the clouds 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 31 

in rain, waters the earth, becomes a part of 
vegetation, evaporates into space and again re- 
turns to wash and revitalize mother-earth. It 
covers a large part of the earth's surface. It 
is a part of all vegetable and animal life, and 
without which neither vegetable nor animal life 
can exist. The human body is 70% water. 
Water has a real food value, and is an import- 
ant part of our daily nutrition. 

The blood, which is the force that the crea- 
tive power of mind uses to send the food to 
the different parts of the body for the purpose 
of keeping the system in repair, is a stream of 
water laden with food elements on its way to 
the millions of cells which compose the human 
body. It is verily a Eiver of Life to man. As 
the blood is pumped through the arteries, tne 
Innate Intelligence of man extracts from it the 
food elements needed for the building of the 
many different parts of the body. After the 
blood has unloaded its cargo of building ma- 
terial it then becomes the sewage canal for the 
waste thrown off by the reconstruction of cell 
life. It is therefore obvious that a full blood- 



32 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

stream is advisable. If we do not give the 
body enough water the blood is bound to lose 
its proper balance — too scant in quantity and 
poor in quality — then it ceases to be an Effec- 
tive River of Life. 

When the blood returns through the circula- 
tory system, it washes out the poisons of the 
body. People who are light water drinkers do 
not keep the blood properly watered. The 
pumping station runs short of fluid once in a 
while. Often a person who realizes that the 
heart is not acting normally becomes alarmed 
and the blame is put on the poor heart. Plenty 
of water is all that is needed; but few people 
know this fact, and they become patients of the 
medical world. With due respect to the profes- 
sion of medical healing, it must be admitted 
physicians are not in the business of teaching 
people how to keep and stay well. If physicians 
were hired to keep their patients well, and were 
paid accordingly, we would know much more 
about the governing laws of health. 

Water is an important factor in the process 
of elimination. The five organs of elimination 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 33 

depend upon water in order to do their work 
effectively. The bowels must have water to 
cleanse and wash out the putrid excretions. 
The kidneys also demand a plenteous supply to 
meet their needs. The skin, which is one of the 
important eliminating factors, cannot do its 
work well without water. It has been stated by 
medical authorities that the skin throws off 
over two pounds of rank poison daily. The 
skin has the power to sweat out poisons, and 
it can do so only when there is enough water 
in the system to spare for cleansing purposes. 
Nature uses water to cleanse the human house 
just as the house-keeper uses it to wash dishes 
and keep her kitchen clean. Water is the ma- 
terial cleansing fluid of the world, whether it 
be inside or outside of the body. 

Just how much water a person should drink 
depends upon the size of the individual and the 
kind of works he does. We do know that every 
one ought to drink at least two quarts a day at 
least. On rising in the morning it is well to 
make a habit of drinking at least a pint of 
either hot or cold water. If you are in a normal 



34 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

condition of health the cold water is the best. 
If this is not the case, drink hot water with a 
little salt in it — just enough to make it taste 
as salty as you like your soup. It is not wise to 
keep np the hot water habit too long, for too 
much heat is enervating. 

Bathing is another use of water that we must 
take into consideration. You would not think 
that it would be necessary to tell people to take 
a bath. The impression exists that a daily bath 
is weakening to the system. I want to rid you 
of such an erroneous idea. To live in water 
continuously is not good for any one. We do 
not belong to the fish family — we are fresh-air 
creatures — but a sensible use of water as a 
daily cleansing-process is necessary to health, 
and no injurious result will ever come from 
just keeping clean. Your health depends large- 
ly upon your power of elimination. The skin 
is one of the organs of elimination; it therefore 
is essential that the skin be kept clean, and you 
cannot keep it clean unless you wash it every 
day. 

I do not advocate the hot bath more than two 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 35 

or three times a week, nor do I believe it wise 
to take a cold plunge. The first is weakening, 
while the last is too great a shock to the nerv- 
ous system. The best form of bath is the 
shower. You then can govern the temperature 
of the water. Start with warm water and slow- 
ly turn it colder until you get used to a real 
cold shower. The cold shower is invigorating 
especially if the bath is followed by a brisk fric- 
tion rub with a Turkish towel. 

Dr. Frank Crane has given these words to 
the world: 

"I will respect myself. I can get away from 
everybody else, but not MYSELF. Since I 
have to live with ME all the time, and eat with 
him, I will try not to make him ashamed. ' ' 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 



Why not thine own? Press on; achieve! achieve! 
No man shall place a limit in thy strength; 

Such triumphs as no mortal ever gained 
May yet be thine if thou wilt but believe 

In thy Creator and thyself. At length 
Some feet will tread all heights now unattained — 

—Ella Wheeler Wilcox. 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 



37 



NERVE ENERGY 



"Harnessed it is the master producer; undirected the 
feeder of scrap heaps." 




HEBE is a subtle force permeating all 
space and matter, that is a mystery 
to the world. We know it exists but 
we cannot see it. No scientist has 
ever been able to discover, or in any 
way put his finger upon this power. It is an 
intangible force that the microscope fails to 
show. We know that it is here, a vital some- 
thing that actuates matter. It is the life of all 
living particles. It is the center of the quintel, 
the electron, the atom, the molecule, and final- 
ly all matter that has been crystalized by the 
action of mind. We know that it is by the ac- 
tion of this life force that man exists; without 
which he ceases to live. Every living, breath- 
ing thing in the universe is existing because of 
this force. Take the life force out of the air 



38 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

and the plant dies. Take the life force out of 
the air and the animal dies, and man dies. 

God is Life. 

There is a verse in the Bible which affirms 
that i ' God is life. " Is it not logical to believe 
that this life force and the life quoted as a part 
of the Almighty force, is one and the same. 
The Master said to His disciples "I have come 
that ye may have life and have it more abund- 
antly." We know that we can have just as 
much of this life force as we desire. We know 
that we are living in a sea of life; that it is 
around us; that it permeates our bodies as it 
does all space. We are living in that ocean of 
energy and we have the power to appropriate 
just as much of this life force as will adequate- 
ly meet our needs. 

The Healing Force. 

In the past man has been taught that this 
life force, which we term "Energy," was intro- 
duced in the body through food. We have 
learned now that food contains only a small per 
cent of energy, and that the energy that per- 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 39 

meates food is that part which is the air there- 
in, and that the real energy, the abundance of 
energy which we use; comes from the air we 
breathe. Oxygen and energy are appropriated 
from the air by the sub-conscious mind through 
the breathing process, and we receive the en- 
ergy we need according to the amount of air 
that we breathe. Therefore, this wonderful 
healing force, this life force of the universe, is 
around us at all times. It is here in abundant 
supply and it is ready always for us to appro- 
priate and use. 

Out in the ether, or out in space, this energy 
takes different forms. First, that force which 
through the wonderful ingenuity of Edison and 
others, is extracted from the air in the form 
of electricity is a lower form or slower 
vibration of energy. Plants, animals and all 
other forms of life extract from the air the life 
which makes it possible for them to exist. It 
is all the same force, the same energy, only 
each is a different degree of vibration. The en- 
ergy that is extracted from the air for electri- 
cal purposes is a slower rate of vibration than 



40 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

that which man appropriates ; and yet neither 
the energy appropriated for electrical purposes 
nor the energy appropriated for man can be 
diagnosed. It cannot be seen. It is an nnseen 
force ; one of the greatest nnseen forces of the 
universe ; for it is Life itself. 

Mental Impkessions. 

This subtle force, when in the ether, is neu- 
tral. It has not a mental impression. Energy 
is negative. Mind is positive. The negative 
force — energy — is waiting to be played upon 
by the positive force — mind. When we appro- 
priate through the breathing apparatus this 
energy from the atmosphere it becomes ours. 
As soon as assimilated it at once takes on the 
predominant mental impression of the sub- 
conscious mind. The predominant mental im- 
pression always impresses energy as soon as 
that energy becomes a part of us. If the pre- 
dominant thought of the sub-conscious mind is 
failure, energy becomes laden with the thought 
of failure, and from the moment that energy 
is so impressed success to you is an im- 






LIFE AND ITS FORCES 41 

possible thing. When energy becomes im- 
pressed with the thought of illness there is no 
hope of yon becoming well nntil yon change 
your predominant mental impression into one 
of health. It is hard to do, bnt it is absolutely 
necessary. Yon have to talk to yourself; yon 
have to talk to yonr great sub-conscious mind 
and declare, and affirm nntil yon have domi- 
nated the situation — until all the energy that 
you possess is charged with thoughts of health. 
The predominant mental impression governs 
the expression of energy. 

Habit Mind. 

If you have a habit of any kind that you wish 
to destroy, you cannot destroy it easily by 
thinking about that habit and wishing that you 
could get rid of it. Wishing is not going to 
help you very much, except to make you un- 
happy. Instead of wishing, affirm to yourself 
the thing that you want to be, and absolutely 
refuse to voice now and forevermore the fact 
that you ever had such a habit. 

Not only is it not wise to admit that you have 
a bad habit, but it is wisdom to never refer to 



42 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

it, unless you are positively sure that you 
have completely overcome it by the law of sub- 
stitution. Mind has the power to command en- 
ergy to do anything that you desire to have 
done. The sub-conscious mental impression al- 
ways impresses energy with its predominant 
impression. If that predominant impression is 
not good, you can change the predominant 
mental impression by constant affirmation. It 
is possible to completely rebuild your sub-con- 
scious mind by daily affirming the thing you 
want to be. Never at any time use a system 
of denial. When you deny a thing you bring 
back the picture by repeating the words. Ev- 
ery word that we speak is a mental picture. If 
we use destructive words and are trying to get 
rid of a destructive condition, we are going a 
long way round in order to bring results. 
There is a short-cut way. The quickest method 
is to affirm in constructive words the condition 
you wish developed. 
Healing. 

This vital force that we call energy, when ap- 
propriated and made a part of you, is under 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 43 

your mental direction. Not only does that en- 
ergy respond inside of the body, but it also re- 
sponds to an outside demand. Energy is the 
underlying force of telepathy, or telementation 
as Atkinson wisely terms it. Energy is the 
force that does all healing, whether it is inside 
of your body or in someone else's body. There 
is only one healing force in the universe and 
that is energy. It is the force of energy that 
has been used by mind to build all that we see 
in the universe, regardless of what that thing 
may be. It is the force of energy that makes 
it possible for the great forests to grow. It is 
the force of energy that makes it possible for 
plant life to grow. It is the force of energy 
that makes it possible for animals to be here. 
The force of energy makes it possible for man 
to be here. It is the life force of the universe. 
When we have appropriated our quantity of en- 
ergy from the atmosphere we have the privil- 
ege of doing with that energy just what we 
please. It is a life force — a God force ; free to 
all and freely given. You do not have to ask 
for it. All you have to do is to breathe it. It 



44 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

is here ; it is around us ; it is everywhere ; and 
after we have appropriated it then we have a 
responsibility. How are we going to use it? 

Sex Energy. 

Every action is the result of mind playing 
on energy. We have in our body, three import- 
ant nerve centers. All told, there are twelve 
nerve centers in the body in which the psychol- 
ogists are interested. One of those centers is 
located in the back of the neck.; another is the 
solar plexis ; the other is located beneath the 
waist, and is called the sacral center. Through 
all the life of man the energies of his body are 
being expressed objectively through these three 
centers. 

When man uses his thought in a constructive 
way — when he uses his power of thought for 
the creation of thought children — his energies 
are drawn to the head, making it possible for 
him to think and to think constructively, to be 
strong and alert mentally. Emotionalism 
draws the energy to the solar plexus, the seat 
of emotion, and expresses its force in all kinds 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 45 

of emotions — good, bad and indifferent. The 
unevolved of animal type draws his force to the 
sacral center and expresses his energies sex- 
ually. You cannot be sexually dissipated and 
be intellectually a success. No living soul was 
ever able to dissipate his energy sexually and 
keep his place at the top of his profession. 
Whenever you hear of a man or a women who 
stands at the peak of a profession or business 
— when you hear that man talked of as a sexual 
pervert, etc. — put it down as a damnable piece 
of gossip. No man or women can waste his en- 
ergies through a sensuous life and be an artist. 
He cannot remain on the heights unless he 
obeys the divine law; as success is the greatest 
test of character. If he stays at the peak of 
success, you know that he is constructive; that 
he is drawing his energies to his head and 
expressing them intelligently. When you 
hear of people who stand on the highest pin- 
nacle of prominence as being sexual in- 
ebriates, put it down as falsehoods that politi- 
cal enemies like to tell about their opponents. 
I am not trying in any way to excuse peo- 



46 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

pie of weaknesses, but I count it one of 
the greatest crimes of the world, this eternal 
condemnation of men higher up in authority. 
The men and women who are walking on the 
heights of fame are living a very straight sex- 
ual life or they cannot remain in their exalted 
place. Sexual energy is the most condensed 
form of energy. Lust is the most dissipated 
form in which energies can be expressed. You 
cannot be one hundred per cent efficient and 
dissipate your energies sexually. 

Mind always dominates energy. Energy fol- 
lows thought. The man or woman who has a 
righteous, definite purpose in life, has some- 
thing worth while to think about. Only when 
strong loving natures meet their own — those 
who are intended for each other — will those en- 
ergies be drawn from the higher plane, the 
throne of His kingdom, to a lower plane. Then 
energy can be spiritualized and the sex love put 
on a high plane of understanding and realiza- 
tion. 

When the energies are drawn through the 
power of thought to the intellectual center and 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 47 

held there continually, used intellectually, with- 
out the warm touch of the emotions, there is a 
chilling effect upon the nature of that being. 
They become cold and intellectual. They do not 
seem to have an emotion within them. They 
are not the kind of people that have any mag- 
netism. They are not the type that have a 
large circle of friends. Our intellectuality 
should always be sweetened, softened and 
beautified by the love nature. The love nature 
should ever be expressed upon its highest plane 
and directed intellectually. When you are able 
to reach that ideal condition you are indeed a 
master of yourself. You are a long way on the 
road to self-mastery. 

The Human Auba. 

When energy is impressed with a predomi- 
nant mental thought, not only does it per- 
meate the body but it is radiated in the atmos- 
phere around you. The aura which you hear 
spoken of often is the extension of the energies 
of the body. It is around you at all times. It 
expresses your character and your personality. 



48 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

The predominant thought of the sub-conscious 
mind is radiated in your aura. The aura has 
the power of attraction or repulsion. In your 
hours of reflection — when you are thinking 
things over — if you have charged your mind 
and directed your thought along uplifting, in- 
spiring courageous lines, your aura becomes 
charged with that type of thought. If you 
have used the time in worrying or entertain- 
ing thoughts of jealousy, malice or destructive 
thoughts, your aura is charged with those 
thoughts, and you have lost the power of at- 
tracting good. You attract your own kind. 
Whenever you draw in your circle someone 
who is not true to you, you must know that it is 
a result of your own thoughts. The law of at- 
traction brings you your environment. You 
are creating your law of attraction and if it 
brings to you people that you do not like, look 
back and see when it was that you thought 
along the line expressed by the person who 
came into your environment. The law of at- 
traction is one of the great laws of the uni- 
verse. 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 49 

Thought Cuekents. 

Every thought in the universe seeks its own 
kind. There is a law of attraction which per- 
meates the thought world. "Like attracts 
like. ' ' Every thought that we think, when sent 
out into the ether is immediately, through the 
force of its own law, drawn to its own kind. 
When we think a thought of anger it imme- 
diately joins the other thoughts of anger that 
have been sent out in the world and becomes 
a part of that thought-current. When we 
think a thought of impatience the same thing 
happens, only in a lighter degree. When you 
think of faith immediately that thought joins 
the higher plane of thought and you become 
connected with the thought of faith. Every 
thought has its own thought-current. Every 
mental picture that you have has a correspond- 
ing mental current in the ether. By constantly 
concentrating upon one type of thought, you be- 
come connected with that thought-plane of the 
universe, and you become a channel for those 
thoughts to play through. Let us suppose that 
thought current be hate. You have been hating 



50 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

some one or some thing. You are constantly 
thinking upon this destructive thought. You 
make it a part of yourself ; you work your emo^ 
tions up to a high pitch over the affront, or 
whatever it is that has brought this thought 
of hate to you. The more you concentrate upon 
it the more you become connected with the hate 
thought of the universe, until you become a 
channel for that thought-current. Not only do 
you suffer for your own hate thought, but you 
suffer from the hate thought of the whole 
world. When you have carried this far enough 
it becomes an obscession, and when hate be- 
comes an obscession there is murder in the 
heart. The murders of the world have often- 
times been committed because the murderer 
connected up with the murder-thought of the 
world, and he became obscessed with the 
thought of murder and nothing but the doing 
of the deed could satisfy the obscession. 

Genius. 

When people think of music — love music, 
practice music, concentrate upon music, read 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 51 

about the composers — in fact, learn all there is 
to be known about music — they become connect- 
ed with the musical thought of the world, and 
a channel for the musical thought-current. If 
a person has concentrated upon the masters; 
such as Beethoven, Hayden, Mozart and many 
others; he becomes a channel for classics, and 
if he continues persistently, he will become a 
genius. 

There are as many planes of thought as 
there are ideas. To be a genius means only a 
vision, a persistent concentration, until you be- 
come a channel for the thought-current of the 
universe. If you persist diligently, keeping 
your vision before you in your practice, you are 
a success. Energy is the force that is used. If 
we send out desire with a weak faith we do not 
get results. Divided attention always means 
divided energy, and divided energy means 
scattered forces. Thought is made possible by 
the life force that is within you. Never scatter 
that energy. "This one thing I do and that 
done well, is the best of rule that I can tell." 
Keep your ideals, keep your vision and concen- 



52 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

trate your energy, knowing that energy has 
taken on the predominant mental impression 
and that though energy is going out into the 
world seeking its own kind through the law of 
attraction and bringing to you a manifestation 
of your vision. 

Man has the power to command the negative 
force energy to build a perfect body; to build 
success. Do you wonder that certain splendid 
teachers claim that we are Gods in the making ? 
There is absolutely no limit to mankind's pos- 
sibilities when he comes into the right realiza- 
tion of his powers. The only limitation there is 
is the limitation that he puts upon himself. 
The forces are all here waiting for us to use 
them, waiting for us to become conscious of our 
powers, and then conscientiously, determinedly 
put them into use. 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 53 



NOBLESSE OBLIGO. 



"I hold it the duty of one who is gifted, 

And especially dowered in all mens' sight, 

To know no rest until his life is lifted 
Fully up to his great gifts height. 

He must mold the man into rare completeness; 

For gems are set only in gold refined, 
He must fashion his thoughts into perfect sweetness 

And cast out folly and pride from his mind." 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 



55 




THE PSYCHOLOGY OF 
EMOTION 

HE human race is largely actuated 
through the force of emotion. It is a 
power within man, which, when wise- 
ly yielded, sways the opinions of 
men; lulls to rest the wearied souls 
of the race; gives joy to the world, happiness 
to the soul, and contentment to the individual. 
This same power when expressed unwisely, is 
the actuating force of almost, if not all, of the 
troubles that beset the pathway of man. 

Emotion is an effect, not a cause. It is the 
result of the impression of thought upon the 
sensory nervous system of the body. The sen- 
sory nerves are the connecting link between 
mind and matter; between the conscious and 
subconscious mind; between the objective and 
the subjective life of man. 

When the objective mind impresses the sub- 



56 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

jective mind with thoughts that stir the interest 
of the individual, there is an emotion created. 
If the thought is for the good of the person it 
is called a constructive emotion : if the opposite, 
it is destructive in its effect. 

The Soul Gkowth. 

The soul of man demands growth ; for growth 
is the law of life, regardelss of how that life is 
expressed. There is no such a thing as stand- 
ing still. Either we are forging ahead and 
learning in the great school of experience, or 
we are stagnating. If we wish to make a suc- 
cess of our lives — and we all do — we must obey 
the Divine law — GBOW. Growth means change, 
and change brings into play the five senses 
through which the SOUL receives its experi- 
ence. Every experience is an education. Ev- 
ery experience contains its lesson; and when 
the lesson is learned the experience will not re- 
turn. The SOUL refuses to travel over the 
same pathway continually; therefore the more 
the life does encompass the greater the growth 
of the SOUL. 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 57 

Desteuctive Emotions. 

All destructive emotion is the result of an 
objective contact with the world. The soul de- 
sires good, and nothing but good ; and when the 
experience contacted through the senses is not 
for the good of the soul, there is friction be- 
tween the spiritual and the material self. The 
connecting link between these selves is the sen- 
sory nerves; therefore the nerves become irri- 
tated according to the sensitiveness of the per- 
son. We are then discontented, unsettled, and 
unhappy. Not knowing this truth we refuse to 
give expression to that which the soul most de- 
sires. 

When the spiritual self impresses this sen- 
sory nervous system the emotion created is al- 
ways of a pure, noble and constructive type. 
When we let the soul speak, we hear only that 
which is good for us. The sin of the universe 
is ignorance; and we, through our ignorance, 
fail to listen to the inner voice; therefore the 
conscious mind — or reasoning mind — directs 
without the inspiration which comes from the 
inner or subjective self. The conscious mind is 



58 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

filled more or less with erroneous ideas. The 
subjective or supra-conscious mind knoivs all 
things, and can and ivill give us knowledge 
ivhen ive learn the pathway. 

CONSTRUCTIVE EMOTIONS. 

The constructive emotions eminate from the 
entertainment of thoughts that please both the 
inner and outer consciousness — those thoughts 
that build into the life happiness, success and 
good health. 

Study of the Solar Plexus. 

With the above truth in mind, I want to take 
up with you a study of the vehicle through 
which the emotions function. We have within 
the body a small fenestrated mass of nerves 
situated beneath the diaphragm — behind the 
stomach and connected with the sacral nerves, 
liver, and all of the other inner organs of the 
body — called the solar plexus. Thousands of 
nerves eminate from the center and connect 
themselves with the inner organs of the thorax 
and abdomen. 

The solar plexus was named by the Occult 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 59 

students of the East "Solar" after the sun. 
Plexus means a network of nerves. Those 
students of nature realized that as the sun 
warmed the earth and brought life, joy and 
happiness, so did the solar plexus effect the 
inner universe of man. 

This plexus is a very sensitive part of the 
body. It is the center of the sensory nervous 
system; therefore it is the center of the con- 
necting organ through which the emotions func- 
tion. 

While the medical world has not recognized 
the real value of a knowledge of the solar 
plexus, the athletic world, has to some extent. 
There is a law in the world of athletics against 
a blow in the region of the solar plexus. Many 
an athlete was killed before it was understood 
that a severe blow on this center will seperate 
life from man. 

It is believed by many students that the solar 
plexus is the foetus of the human body; and 
their belief is substantiated by the fact that 
babies have been born without any perceptible 
sign of a brain, and yet lived. This is evidence 



60 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

that there is another brain-center, other than 
the brain itself, which directs the building and 
the rebuilding of the body. The solar plexus 
is that brain. It is the organ through which 
the subconscious mind functions; and, as it is 
generally conceded by psychologists that the 
subconscious mind is the force that builds the 
body, it must follow that the solar plexus is 
the beginning of life, and that life continues to 
use the solar plexus as the center of mental ac- 
tion through which the innate intelligence of 
man operates. 

Astkal Body. 

Another theory advanced is that there is a 
psychic connection between the solar plexus 
and the astral body. This connection has been 
described by the psychic as a silver cord which 
passes from the solar plexus through the um- 
bilicus and connects itself with the spiritual 
body of man. As long as this connection is un- 
broken life can be restored; but when it is 
severed no one but a Christ could resusticate 
life in such a body. 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 61 

The Effect of Emotion on the Solae Plexus. 

The solar plexus is effected by every emotion 
we entertain for good or for evil. If the emo- 
tion is destructive — as fear, jealousy, hatred, 
regrets, or any thought designated as destruc- 
tive — we are in the grip of a force that throws 
the whole being out of harmony, physically, 
mentally and spiritually. Thought has the pow- 
er to harmonize or disarrange the fine, delicate 
organization of our life. 

The world is divided into two classes: the 
sensitive and the non-sensitive. The sensitive 
is one whose sensory nerves are alert, ready to 
enjoy or repulse every impression according to 
the desires of the individual. When the sensi- 
tive entertains worry-thoughts, or any other 
thought which is akin to fear, there is a detri- 
mental reaction of the nerves. Every nerve 
that belongs to the sensory system contracts, as 
if with horror from the thought. There is a 
tensing all over the body, both mental and phy- 
sical, according to the affront against the de- 
sire of the person. These nerves comprise the 
system over which the energy of the body is dis- 



62 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

tributed or equalized. As it is the force of en- 
ergy which makes it possible for the organs 
of the body to function, any obstruction to the 
natural flow of the lifeforce is bound to bring 
physical disaster. 

If the thought comes in a manner which 
shocks the whole system, the solar plexus ten- 
ses and contracts instantly. All the nerves do 
likewise; therefore every organ of the body 
is more or less affected, according to the sever- 
ity of the shock. 

Nerve Shocks. 

In many cases of acute nerve shock the reac- 
tion is instantaneous, causing the victim to faint 
away, become nauseated and vomite, the intes- 
tines to relax and lose their tone, or become 
tensed and refuse to eliminate the poisons of 
the body. Oft times it has been the direct 
cause of death. 

A person may receive a solar-plexus knock- 
out blow in more than one way. A sudden men- 
tal shock often kills as effectively as a 
physical blow; but there is a more subtle 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 63 

method than either which slowly but surely 
shatters health and undermines all its beauty of 
expression. The sensitive man or woman who 
is constantly being made the "butt" of unjust 
criticisms and outbursts of temper, is receiving 
daily in small doses that which is as deadly, in 
the final analysis, as the sudden and unexpected 
mental or physical shock. 

Incompatibility. 

There is a condition found only too often in 
family life where incompatibility reigns su- 
preme. In such cases it will be usually found 
that the wife or husband has become the re- 
ceiving station for the unkind thrusts, criti- 
cisms and unjust accusations form the domin- 
ant side of the union. Abnormal reasoning, 
lack of self control and good judgment is ex- 
pressed by the thoughtless, careless, self-assert- 
ing person. The refined sensitive person is the 
negative who receives the impressions that fall 
like hammer blows upon the sensitive nervous 
system. They are registered in the brain, the 
memory, and physically in the solar plexus. 



64 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 



True to their own Law, the nerves contract, en- 
ergy is tied up for lack of a free channel of 
transmission, followed by the inevitable — dis- 
ease — expressed in various ways. 

No one should be guilty of allowing his health 
to be ruined and possibly to lose his life through 
the constant bickering of another. Meet it if 
you can by realizing the foolishness of permit- 
ting any person to make you miserable. It is 
your test, and if one can become immune to the 
idle talk of a thoughtless person with whom one 
is obliged to associate, a great battle over itself 
has been won. If you cannot live harmonious- 
ly, after trying every method to bring about 
peace, get out ; for this is a fact that ' ' when you 
get enough you can quit." If you are bound 
by the ties of parenthood, remember you have 
a covenant with your offspring ; for you are re- 
sponsible for your children's welfare during 
the impressionable period of their young lives. 
Therefore it is your place to stand at your post 
as long as your duty as parent is evident. 

I have always admired that Greek philoso- 
pher who married the worst tempered woman 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 65 

in the country in order to test out his self-con- 
trol. His desire for perfection was a very dy- 
namic one, or he would not have used so heroic 
a method. It is the greatest test of character 
to be able to stand in your position, because it 
is your duty, when you are nagged, criticised 
and complained about, and yet keep your poise, 
keep cool, calm, and be able to say as the Christ 
did, "Father, forgive them, for they know not 
what they do." 

The Test oe Chaeactee. 

Character is not built by walking in paths of 
roses or living on money that someone else has 
earned. Character is built by climbing the rug- 
ged pathway where every muscle and every 
nerve is strained to make the climb. It is only 
by exercise that the muscles are developed. It 
is by exercise of the power of decision that will 
power is strengthened. By the same law it is 
only through the testing power of trouble that 
character is built. Trouble is the tester. If we 
can face our misfortunes with a smile we are 
on the winning side of life. 



66 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 



" 'Tis easy enough to be pleasant, 

When life flows along like a song; 
But the man worth while is the one who will smile 

When everything goes dead wrong; 
For the test of the heart is trouble, 

And it always comes with the years; 
And the smile that is worth the praise of the earth 

Is the smile that comes through tears." 

—Ella Wheeler Wilcox. 



The weak-minded negatives sit down and cry 
abont it. The strong and positive see the les- 
son that trouble has brought to them, and im- 
mediately proceed to correct the cause of the 
punishment. They stand on their own feet; 
know themselves, their emotions, and how to 
control them and the situations that confront 
them. 

The Mastek Mind. 

We have been given this divine command, 
"Be ye perfect even as your Father in Heaven 
is perfect.' ' Being perfect is learning to mas- 
ter self. We cannot learn self-mastery unless 
we have something to master. This master- 
mind quality comes to us by meeting construc- 
tively every condition and situation in life. We 
meet them at every angle from the beginning of 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 67 

our lives. As a child they come to us. We 
meet them in manhood and womanhood; in the 
business world; in the martial state; in our 
children ; in fact, they are ever with us forcing 
us "To be or not to be." 

If we would be master-minds — if we would 
be super-men and women we will welcome these 
tests, realizing the opportunity that each one 
brings to us to develop the power within. 

"WE GET OUR GREATEST FORCE 
FROM OUR SEVEREST TRIALS." 

The weakly undeveloped character concen- 
trates upon his trials and difficulties helpless- 
ly. He, because of his lack of understanding, 
' ' Blames the world when things go wrong. ' ' He 
tells his troubles to all that will listen to him. 
He carries the proverbial chip on his shoulder, 
and he would be disappointed if some one did 
not knock it off. He lacks the power of silence. 
He never knows when to speak and when not 
to speak. Therefore he becomes the victim of 
his own emotionalism. 

The strong man is just the opposite of this. 
He knows that idle talk never did get him any- 



68 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

thing but more trouble; therefore he talks 
when it is time to talk, and he keeps still when 
it is wise to do so. He handles his proposition 
in a scientific, masterly manner. He governs 
his emotions by using his judgment and wis- 
dom. As a result of his good sense he becomes 
a power in his own world of achievement. 

It is not the untested that have developed 
character. Strength of character is attained 
only by overcoming all obstacles that block our 
pathway. Can you not see that when we sense 
this light upon emotionalism we will look upon 
life very differently than we have in the past? 
Why let emotions govern us? Why entertain 
any emotion that creates discordant conditions 
— that drives away from us the realization of 
our heart's righteous desire? Is it not foolish- 
ness? 

Hate's Revenge. 

The most destructive emotion which we are 
guilty of entertaining is hate. There is no 
thought more destructive than hate and its sev- 
eral modifications. The medical world has 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 69 

proven this statement by their laboratory ex- 
periments. The very consistency of the blood 
is changed with every emotion. When that emo- 
tion is hate the blood is actually poisoned. 
The medical therepa does not explain just what 
happens to bring about this change. A friend 
explained the process to me, and as his explana- 
tion sounds like good sense I will give it to you. 
There are five eliminating organs in the 
human body — the bowels, kidneys, skin, lungs, 
and liver. These organs are closely connected 
with the solar-plexus by sensory nerves. When 
the solar-plexus responds to a fear thought, the 
contraction effects each of the eliminating or- 
gans. Especially is this dynamically true of 
the liver. The nerve between this organ and 
the solar-plexus is about two to three inches 
long, and large in size. Over this connecting 
link passes the energy or life-force which ac- 
tuates the eliminating power of the liver. The 
kidneys and liver work in close sympathy with 
each other. When the liver is affected or out 
of order the kidneys respond to the condition 
with mathematical accuracy. 



70 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

When a strong emotion grips the solar- 
plexus — as for instance hate — that nerve con- 
tracts, as does every other sensory nerve of the 
body, and the inevitable takes place — elimina- 
tion ceases immediately. The same thought 
will stop the regular deep breathing of the vic- 
tim. As the lungs throw off 20,000 grains of 
rank poison daily, it is IMPORTANT that man 
does not interfere with nature's plan to keep 
the body clean. 

Anything which stops the elimination of the 
poisons of the body will change the chemistry 
of the blood. The blood cannot be pure unless 
all the eliminating organs are energized and 
doing their work in the great plan of man's in- 
ner world. 
Love's Reward. 

Let us take the constructive side of emotions 
and see how much more lovely and beneficent it 
is to allow only that which helps and builds for 
us to possess our very souls. Love, faith, cour- 
age, loyalty, Godliness — all that stands for good 
— relaxes the sensory-nervous system, and 
makes it possible for the energies stored away 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 71 

in the solar-plexus to be properly distributed 
through the body. Not only does constructive 
thinking build up the health in the manner de- 
scribed but it also changes the character into 
a positive, forceful and powerful personality. 

Love is the greatest healing force in the uni- 
verse. It is the great Law of Attraction work- 
ing through man. Love expresses itself in 
many forms and in many ways. There is the 
love for home, love for that which is good, love 
for the beautiful as in nature, love for children, 
the marital love, and love for friends. Love 
thoughts so expressed are entertaining angels 
unawares. The greatest love of all is the uni- 
versal love for mankind. All the world will 
ever know of God is that part of God which we 
see and feel expressed in His universe in spirit 
and in matter. Matter is thought crystalized. 

The body is composed of billions of cells, 
each cell being an individual unto itself with its 
own intelligence. Cells can live in peace only 
as they harmonize with each other. Love is the 
force which brings peace and harmony into an 
organization, and the body is no exception to 



72 LIFE AND ITS FORCES 

the rule. When man has charged his thoughts 
with the universal principal of love, the solar- 
plexus immediately becomes relaxed and the 
energies are charged with the healing force of 
love principles. The cells of the body take the 
impression of mind and at once harmony be- 
gins to prevail where discord and its side pard- 
ner — disease — once held sway. 

When love and its many modifications pre- 
dominate, emotion is radiated to every part of 
the being through the force of energy, and 
builds the principle into the cells until the body 
is completely charged with love which is the 
greatest healing force of mind. If we want to 
be well we must think constructive thoughts ; if 
we want to be strong we must think strong 
thoughts ; if we want to be happy we must think 
happy thoughts; for, "As a man thinketh in 
his heart so is he, ' ' is ever true. It is an immu- 
table law that works for our good as well as for 
our destruction. A thought that does not af- 
fect the emotions does not leave a definite im- 
pression. We might well paraphrase that old 
adage, "As a man thinketh/ ' to "as a man 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 73 

thinketh and is impressed emotionally, so is 

he." 

Emotional Influence. 

Emotion plays a very important part in our 
lives. Without emotion we would get nowhere. 
Emotion and desire are twin brothers. A big 
mighty desire creates a big and mighty emo- 
tion. The man who is not able to develop with- 
in himself a big wholesome emotion will never 
be a big and mighty man. Our influence with 
people can be computed by the strength of the 
emotions. If they are constructive they become 
a force for our good and we then possess the 
power to attract to us the good and the beauti- 
ful in life. If they are destructive we become 
an object of repulsion to the good of the uni- 
verse. 

Emotion is a direct response to the power of 
thought. Emotion is the color-artist of tone 
language. It is that something which sweetens 
the mother tongue ; and harmonizes and beauti- 
fies the lives of men. It is the power that 
makes it possible for orators to sway and mould 
the opinions of people. It is the force that the 



74 



LIFE AND ITS FORCES 



singer uses to lift the souls of man to aesthetic 
heights of joy. It is potentially the soul of 
music, without which no one can become an 
artist — musically or otherwise. 

It is emotion that gives to the world reform- 
ers — philanthropists, the altruistic teachers 
and boosters of men. 




LIFE AND ITS FORCES 75 



THEORY AND PRACTICE. 



"Theory without pracice 
Is a tree without fruit, 
While practice without theory 
Is a tree without roots. 

Well grounded in theory 
There is sure to be — 
When experience is added — 
A perfect tree." 



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